The County Council on Tuesday approved $34.6 million in funding to help prepare for possible severe flooding in the coming weeks in south King County.

"This money will help King County and its partners continue to move quickly to increase capacity on critical levees, safeguard facilities like the Maleng Regional Justice Center and ensure continuity of services such as elections," said Executive Kurt Triplett, who had requested the funding.

The Howard Hanson Dam, which regulates the flow of water in the Green River Valley, was damaged during January flooding. As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it can't use the structure, built in 1962, to its full flood-storage capacity -- a potentially disastrous situation in the event of severe flood conditions this fall. Renton, Auburn and Tukwila could be anywhere from 4 to 10 feet underwater if storms are severe.

In the worst-case scenario, property damage alone could be $3 billion while a shutdown of economic activity could cost the region $46 million a day, authorities say. Authorities also say up to 30,000 people could be displaced.

The county broke down the spending like this:

$7.4 million of wastewater treatment funds will help maintain operations at the South Treatment Plant during a flood.

$7.9 million will be used for facility planning and protection in the Green River Valley flood zone area, such as building a water-resistant wall around the Maleng Regional Justice Center and relocating inmates.

$3.3 million will be used by the Office of Information and Resource Management for essential tasks such as moving servers, installing telecom infrastructure and network devices for the 1,200 -- 1,600 county employees being relocated out of the flood zone.

$2.3 million will be used to cover the cost of temporarily relocating Elections to the King County Airport Operations Center to ensure that Elections can meet its legal mandate to count ballots and certify election results within three weeks of Election Day.

$1.8 million will be used by the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention to lower the inmate population at the Maleng Regional Justice Center detention facility to allow for an emergency full evacuation of the MRJC if necessary. The funding also includes approximately $9.9 million for contingencies.